Title Page

Copyright Notice

The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.

Dedication

For all the people who were instrumental in the very long journey from idea to publication:

Michael and Angela
for brainstorming and antique show browsing

Mom, Debbie, and Jenny
for the reading and helpful feedback

My agent, Kristin Nelson,
for never giving up (and not having to eat her hat)

And my editor, Margaret Ferguson,
for forcing me (sometimes kicking, screaming, and pouting all the way) to make the book the best it could be

Author’s Note

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This novel is a work of alternate history that explores what might have happened if something in our country’s history had been different. What if the colonies had never gained their independence and the British continued to rule? What if that ruling class had magical powers?

That would have changed a lot of things, including technology, industry, and the social order. And many other things might have been different. For instance, Great Britain abolished slavery in 1833, and if the American colonies had still been part of the empire, there might never have been the need for the Civil War. The pattern of westward expansion might have changed as well, altering relationships with the native peoples.

With magic in the mix, some technologies might have come later or never been developed at all, while others might have been ahead of their time. If magic provided the power for all industry and technology, common people would be dependent on the magical classes for their livelihood and survival.

But there are other forms of power, like steam and electricity, and if people could learn about and make use of this power, they might have a way to fight against the magical classes and gain their freedom from the British.

New York City
1888

In Which I Face Bandits and Butlers

IN WHICH I FACE BANDITS AND BUTLERS

If I’d let myself think about what might lie ahead for me, I’d have been terrified. So, instead of thinking, I lost myself in the book I’d bought at the train station newsstand—the kind of pulp novel I’d have had to hide behind a copy of The Odyssey if I’d still been at home in New Haven. Now, though, I could read what I wanted without my father having any say in the matter. My life had improved in that way, at least.